Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, April 14, 1942

A dream -

J.J.L. [J. J. Lankes], Arthur & myself out in the country. We walk thru a field that has just been sown with wheat — we walk down a drainage furrow, which is literally filled with the grain. We reached the far edge of the field, which was at the edge of a high embankment or cliff, beyond which was a vague, much lower stretch of country lying to the North. We turn & walk west ward along the field’s edge, and pause under a young pig-nut tree.

By this time, the wheat has sprouted, and sends up thin green blades — snow commences to fall, but the flakes are black, and I thought "They are black because the air has been so full of dust and soot, and after a bit they will turn white" - They did indeed start to get lighter in color, when we saw that the farmer in whose land we were trespassing, furious at us, was driving along the road the south in a light truck. He drove to the point where we had entered the field, parked his truck, and was obviously waiting for us to return, when he would nab us, and have us arrested.

Looking out over the edge of the embankment I saw that there was a steep winding path leading to the land below, which was the sandy shore of a lake (Cayuga Lake, I thought) We scrambled down, and walked westward along the shore, to a highway, where we saw a bus approaching. We stopped it, discovered that it was going directly to our village, and so we got on and rode away, gleeful over outwitting the farmer.

Worked today on the shed picture — The sunlight was only intermittent, but I got some good work done on the evergreen tree (Arbor Vita).

Charles E. Burchfield, April 14, 1942